


Ode to Friendship

by orangina



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Bayern München, Fluff, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-18
Updated: 2015-04-18
Packaged: 2018-03-23 11:35:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3766642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orangina/pseuds/orangina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Manuel made a mistake and conceded a goal against Borussia Mönchengladbach. Bayern lost. Manuel is a little bit upset, so he invites Thomas over.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ode to Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> Someone requested this a while back and I wrote it but I didn't think it was that good so I never posted it. Alas, here it is now. I hope you see this, anon :)

Being the best goalkeeper in the world wasn’t easy. Actually, being the best at anything didn’t come easy. While it’s true that the title of ‘best in the world’ can be partly attributed to chance in the talent that you’re born with or maybe just falling into the right situation, a more important part of it involves dedication, pain, and hours and hours of hard work that isn’t always fun. Being the best goalkeeper in the world was an honor that Manuel had fought for himself. But that didn’t make him invincible by any means, and it seemed that a mistake made by the best goalkeeper in the world was a thousand times worse than a mistake made by any other keeper.

The glass in Manuel’s hand right now was nearly full because he was taking only the occasional sip, just enough for the taste to make itself known. He had his feet up on the coffee table and a magazine open across his thighs, but he wasn’t focusing on the magazine as much as mulling over the results of the match against Borussia Mönchengladbach earlier. It had been Bayern’s second loss of the season and it hadn’t been his fault, but it was easy to place the blame on him when he’d somehow let in that first goal. Forget the forwards failing to score and the defenders letting the ball slip past them. The blame was on Manuel because he was the last man, and not only that, but he was the best goalkeeper in the world.

He wasn’t upset. With honor comes expectations, and expectations are an honor to have. No, Manuel wasn’t upset. He was bound to make mistakes sometimes, he was only human after all and surely this single loss would be trivial as soon as the team made up for it. It was always a challenge to wind down after an eventful match and this match was no exception. That was the simple reason Manuel was still up at this hour; not because he was upset about the results and couldn’t fall asleep.

Okay, maybe he was a _little_ upset. But still, he was a grown man and wasn’t about to throw any sort of pity party for himself. He was going to accept his mistake and move on to begin focusing on the next match.

Just as Manuel was thinking this, his phone buzzed from where it lay beside him on the couch. He turned his head and smiled slightly upon recognizing the sender of the text. Of course Thomas would be up, too.

From: Thomas Müller  
Still moping around? XD

_That’s it,_ Manuel thought. He called Thomas, put his phone to his ear, and was greeted by a painfully familiar voice after precisely one and a half rings.

“Thomas, I was never moping around and you know it. You saw me after the match.”

Thomas laughed openly. “Alright, alright, Mr. I-can’t-take-a-joke. Seriously though, you’re good right? People can be downright rude. And you were more quiet and, you know, not drunk than usual today. Just wanted to check that you hadn’t drowned yourself in the showers or anything.”

Manuel paused for a moment. He _was_ good, wasn’t he? Sure he was. And even if he wasn’t, there was nothing a little time spent with Müller couldn’t turn around.

“Hey, remember that time I ran into the pole?” Thomas said in an attempt to get Manuel talking (even if it was to take a crack at him) after the silence became worrisome.

“I’m fine, Thomas. Just...bored. Do you want to come over?” Manuel responded warily.

“Be there in fifteen.” And with that, Thomas hung up, but not before Manuel could hear him scrambling around to get ready.

\-----

Thomas arrived half an hour later with a plastic grocery bag in his right hand. He dumped its contents out onto the counter as soon as Manuel let him in the house. A frozen pizza, a bag of marshmallows, and a glass jar of hot fudge skidded out onto the surface.

“You go find a good movie and I’ll get the pizza started,” Thomas ordered, tearing the box open as he spoke.

Manuel blinked. Thomas ‘getting the pizza started’ probably wasn’t the best idea in any situation, but then again Thomas _had_ run out at this hour purely to try and cheer him up so he wasn’t in any place to be helicoptering over his friend. So he nodded his agreement and returned to the living room, snagging a few extra blankets and pillows from his bedroom on the way.

By the time Thomas joined him, the pizza was in the oven and the house felt warmer than it had been before. The slighter man collapsed on the couch with a comfortable sigh. Manuel tossed a blanket and pillow onto his lap.

“How about we just share instead?” Thomas suggested with a grin.

Manuel muted the movie and turned to his friend with a raised eyebrow, his heart beating a little faster than normal. “What?”

Thomas was dead serious. “Why don’t we conserve resources and you share your blanket with me?”

“Thomas…”

Thomas pouted. “Manu…”

“Alright. Fine,” Manuel pretended to give in. “But don’t think this’ll become some sort of everyday thing.”

\-----

With the movie back on, two empty plates on the coffee table and a bag of marshmallows complete with a bowl of hot fudge to dip that had been warmed in the microwave balanced on Manuel’s legs, Manuel realized that he was happy and that he actually did hope this would become some sort of everyday thing. He wasn’t even focusing on the movie because he was too busy focusing on the man next to him, or rather the _feeling_ of the man next to him. Thomas had curled his knees up to his chest and tucked his head onto Manuel’s shoulder, and every half a minute or so he would dip his finger directly into the bowl of hot fudge and then lick it off with series of obnoxious smacking noises that Manuel didn’t have the heart to scold him about.

Manuel felt cozy, sleepy, and appreciative. He was grateful for how Thomas didn’t force him to _talk_ about it and how Thomas seemed to understand that sometimes all that was needed was a simple reminder that things happen and the earth keeps spinning without a care. Things were just the same as they always were. Thomas would always be a goofy, loving klutz and Manuel would always be a respectable goalkeeper. A bad day here and there was unavoidable.

But Manuel decided he could definitely do with some more bad days here and there if _this_ was what he’d be treated with.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments mean the world to me. Also, I'm open to requests for one-shots so if you have something, I'll do my best to write it for you. Bonus: if it's Hömmels I'm 99% more likely to finish it faster ;)


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